Traveler - The Price (Book 3)

“It’s her!” I heard voices shouting.

I opened my eyes, and I saw people running at me. I woke up, and I started running. I didn’t know what they had planned to do to me, but I wasn’t going to find out. I remembered what Joana had told me, that all those I’ve killed were looking for me. In the crowd, I recognized Alicia, and I knew they wanted revenge. They had their point, but what I had done I didn’t do because I liked, but from obligation. I needed to save my friends, and I had no regrets, as long as they had had their chance at peace and they had refused it. I ran on the road Joana had taken me, through the narrow streets. I had to get to the house where I had been the first time I was down there. There I would have been safe. The wounds were gone, a thing that made me feel better.

I was running among the distant people, who were barely turning their heads to see what was happening. They seemed like some lost souls, and I believed that was what they were. I was wondering how they had got that way and I was hoping Aaron wasn’t one of them. Some souls were lost. Others, like the ones who were following me, were vengeful, and I knew there was at least one more category, the one my friends were part of. Kate had been at peace, and I was hoping Aaron was going to be the same.

I arrived in front of the cabin. I heard the screams of my chasers, so I rushed inside. I looked out the window, and I realized they didn’t see the house. They were looking around confused, and I wasn’t sure what they were seeing.

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave this place too soon!” I hear Joana behind me.

“Joana!” I say shocked by her presence there.

“Josephine” she says.

Next was an awkward moment of silence, and then she started talking.

“When I heard that Aaron arrived here, I had a feeling you won’t continue your mission, so I decided to stay here a little longer.”

“Have you seen him? Where is he?”

“I have protected him from the vengeful souls, but before I tell you where he is, I want to know why you’re here. The real reason.”

I looked at her lost. I didn’t know what to tell her because I didn’t know how she was going to react.

“Joana… I…”

“Do you want to see him for the last time?” she asks me.

“I want to know if there’s any chance I could bring him with me back in our world” I said without moving my head from the ground.

“Jo, it’s not a good idea to think about this! Do you think you can come in here and take souls back with you? Well, this is madness! I had the chance to save someone once, but I didn’t do it! I have focused on my mission because it was a price for that.”

“Joana, I’m nothing like you! I want to do this and to finish the mission too! The question is: Can I bring him back? What is the price? Anyway, it doesn’t matter!”

“This is the thing. You can’t know the price until you face it. It is said that it’s a huge price…”

“I think I can handle it!” I said convinced. “Why haven’t you told me this the first time we met?”

“Because I knew it was a price! One that you don’t have to pay! It’s not worth it! There is no way I can talk you out of this and to take you to him just to say goodbye?”

“It’s worth it. Whatever it is, it’s worth it. You know damn well you can’t change my mind. Or maybe you can, but this means we reestablish the balance and you send him back instead of me. He is not supposed to be here! If you had told me I was going to lose my memory when I get up there, probably he wouldn’t have been here!”

“I didn’t know you lost your memory” she said perplexed. “It didn’t happen to me. Damn it, Josephine! There’s something else you must know before doing this.”

“Tell me.”

“You can take back someone only once. So, you better be damn sure he’s the one you want to bring! Think about it!”

“I don’t have anything to think about! Take me to him!”

She was stalling, and I couldn’t understand why. Finally, she had told me that she had given Aaron a choice: she had shown him the path to move on, but she had also told him he could stay a little longer. I got angry when I heard that because I thought Joana wanted him to move on. I have shouted out loud my point, explaining to Joana that I was going to remain there forever, if she didn’t want to help me. She showed me a disappointed face, but she couldn’t change my mind. She waved at me to follow her.

“Joana, if Aaron moved on and I didn’t get the chance to speak to him, you can find yourself another Traveler!” I snapped.

“I think he stayed” she whispers.

“I’m not going to leave this place without him! This is the truth! This is what I came for!”

“All these feelings have made you not to complete your mission!”

“I don’t give a damn about this mission because I care more about what happens to people I love! I don’t think you understand how it’s like to have a family!” I said without thinking I might hurt her feelings.

Joana stopped and looked at me. I saw regret in her eyes.

“Sorry… I didn’t want to…|” I whispered.

“No. You don’t have to be sorry. You’re right.”

I bit my lip because I had made a terrible mistake and I let her walk ahead.

“Joana, how did you die? Had they found the weapon and they have used it on you?” I tried to change the subject.

“No. After I had done the spell, I became mortal again, as you will become too, if you don’t screw things up! I have died in a stupid way, falling off the ladder near my house. I hit my head, and I ended up here. I have waited for you a very long time. I wanted to move on, but I had a feeling you will do something stupid because you’re nothing like me.”

“Here you have a point” I say.

“You’re uncontrollable, unstable, impulsive, and that is the reason I decided to stay a little longer. When I heard that Aaron had arrived here, I felt I was going to see you soon, and it was like I already knew you would ask me this, so I waited.”

“Thank you. If you haven’t waited for me, I would have never known what to do. Probably I wouldn’t have gone back into my world…”

Joana opened the back door and showed me the way to the meadow. After a few steps, I saw Aaron sitting on a log, near the lake. He didn’t seem to notice my presence there, so I approached slowly. I was feeling happiness, but also some fear. He hasn’t moved on. Why? Then I remembered he told me someday that he would fight in my place too, even if I wanted to give up. Maybe he was waiting there knowing I would do the same for him. I could have recognized him from a million of souls, in the darkness. It was something that made me feel in permanent connection with him.

“Aaron!” I shouted.

He turned around, and he remained speechless when he saw me there. I saw on his face the happiness, but also confusion. He stood up, and he ran to me. I rushed to him too, and I jumped in his arms.

“What have you done?” he asks me. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy to see you right now, but if you’re here, this means…”

“No! I’m very much alive, and I am here to take you back with me!”

At that moment, I realized I should have given him some time to accommodate, instead of dropping the bomb. He stared at me, and the shock was all over his face.

“Aaron, we’re going home!”

“This situation is way over my power of understanding” he says. “What have you done now? I think this time you crossed the line…”

“I will explain everything! Now all you have to do is to be happy! Hasn’t Joana told you what I am?”

“I think she forgot to mention that…” he grumbles.

He showed me his white and big smile, which was even brighter in this black and white world. I was going to propose him to advertise for toothpaste or something when all of that was going to be over. He took me in his arms, and he kissed me happily.

“Don’t you ever do something stupid like that again, something that would bring you here!” I said.

“If you promise not to forget about me again…” he replied thoughtfully.

We entered the cabin, where we found Joana.

“I see that went well” she says.

“Of course!” says Aaron. “Did you know Jo was going to show up here?”

“I didn’t know anything for sure, but I had a hunch. I didn’t want to give you false hope” she said.

“Joana told me that I could move on or I can stay here if I felt I had some unfinished business.” he explains. “I have chosen to stay, and I don’t regret it!”

“I’m glad that you’ve made the right choice” I said happily.

Joana was looking at us, and she seemed like she had fallen into deep thinking.

“Hey” I said.

She winced, then she smiled. It was a sincere smile, full of warmth.

“You remember me of myself” she says. “But I didn’t have your courage and determination. I didn’t believe in myself.”

“It’s never too late to do that” I said.

“I think I can move on now” she says. “I have just one last thing to tell you before I go. You’re a Traveler, which means you can travel all sorts of worlds. You can go anywhere, but when you die, you’ll end up here.”

“Is there Heaven or Hell? Or did you tell me that at the beginning for me not to ruin the mission?”

“Sure there is” she replies. “I will go to Heaven now. You can’t travel in these two places. You can go in the world above you, the one where are the spirits who couldn’t adapt in here and couldn’t move on either.”

Aaron was staring at us confused. I knew I had to explain it to him and it was going to be hard to understand. Joana hugged me.

“Thank you for everything!” I said honestly. “Thank you so much!”

“Anytime” she says. “I think I can give you one last advice.”

“I’m listening” I said.

“Don’t ever give up on your beliefs, on who you are and especially on the feelings you have. You’re an incredibly strong person, an example for me and all those around you. And you, Aaron, I hope you know what you signed up for. Hold on tight to what you have now because I have never seen anyone doing things like this for the person they love. Don’t ever let her go.”

“Believe me, I know what I have, and I will never let her go again” he says.

“Don’t you leave either” she continues.

Joana smiled and left on the back door. We remained in the door, looking at her climbing the path. She was heading through the portal, from where she was going to move on. She had told me that the first waterfall was for traveling the worlds and the second for the souls who wanted to move on. Only us could have reached it from here. The rest of the souls had another path. I felt quiet and peace. I knew I had done the right thing.

“Are you ready?” I ask Aaron.

“I don’t think I will ever be ready for this kind of madness, but as long as I’m with you, I believe it’s going to be okay.”

I smiled, and I took his hand. We walked towards the path. We climbed to the waterfall, and I told him to follow me.

“Don’t let go of my hand!” I said, and we stepped inside the portal.

I saw again that white light, then nothing. I didn’t know how much time had passed in our world, but it didn’t matter anymore. It didn’t matter the price I was going to pay for that either. All that mattered was that I had managed to fix one of my mistakes. I had Aaron by my side, and I felt I could do more. I would have wanted to bring the others back too, but the fact that they had found peace made me feel in peace too. The regret that they had ended up there because of me or trying to save me made me wonder why was I the chosen one. What if I had died back in Vals hit by Kate’s car? Of what if Eva found me before I left Vals? What if I was sacrificed on that island? I would have died, or I would have ended up here with Joana? From what she had told me, she was waiting for me for a while, and that made me think whatever happened to me, I would have got back in a way or another, and all those loved ones wouldn’t have died in vain.

Every time I was passing through that portal, my deepest and darkest thoughts came to surface. Anyway, I had managed to make the impossible possible. I was bringing Aaron where he belonged, and that tipped the balance on the side of good. Then I realized Aaron had waited there for me, without noticing his enormous contribution to it. He had made the right choice, and that brought us to that moment. I had underestimated the power of us.

Before I got back here, I felt I couldn’t do anything more. I had moments when a voice inside my head was whispering to me that I was not strong enough for that, that I couldn’t save anyone, that I was a lost cause, that I would be swallowed by the waves. Now, on my way back, I was telling victoriously to that voice that it had underestimated me because I was the ocean and the waves were my madness.